Fairytale of Kathmandu (1 Viewer)

[jane]

jesus jane, this thread is no place for casual frames begrudury. can you not just be happy for an irish lad done well?

Oh, sorry.

"Fair play to them."







































How'd I do?

 

[La La]

meself and the misuss were discussing that; the guy obviously 'lives' by his work, which in this day and age means hes likely to be funded. a quick google search should sort it..

yeah gonna have to see if there's anything on the internets.
e140 for a bike here, e100 for touching a boy there - i was gobsmacked.

 

[jane]

But seriously, following on from La La's question, should he be taken off the leaving? Because if he's on it, it means young people have to buy his books (and again, they're young people the same age as his Nepalese 'friends'), which puts money into his bank account, which takes him to Nepal...etc.

That said, if he was stripped of his posts and his Aosdana membership, where do we draw the line between personal ethics/morality and artistic value? Is he really even that good a poet?

 

[Froog]

paedophiles communicate with kids as young as -2 subliminally through poetry or "paedotry" as they call it.

 

[avernus]

I don't think he should be taken off the leaving certificate. Also, I don't believe they can just take him off - but teachers could make their own decisions to cover his stuff or not. I don't think it's particularly relevant somehow. Francis Bacon had a sexual relationship with his uncle. A huge amount of outsider artists were criminals etc. I don't think that has much to do with the value of art.

But, I would imagine that the arts council and aosdana and anyone else who is funding him would be concerned about how he spends his money now. I think the most important thing about that documentary is highlighting the moral issue of sexual exploitation of poorer countries - both nationally and to Cathal O' Searcaigh. Someone needed to tell him it wasn't ok and that it has to stop and I think it was immensely brave of her to confront him as she did.

 

[cephalopod]

Ah sure its just like Marlon Brando and his Tahitian girls

 

[SONYMEGADRIVE]

how old were the young lads?

 

[La La]

I don't think he should be taken off the leaving certificate. Also, I don't believe they can just take him off - but teachers could make their own decisions to cover his stuff or not. I don't think it's particularly relevant somehow. Francis Bacon had a sexual relationship with his uncle. A huge amount of outsider artists were criminals etc. I don't think that has much to do with the value of art.

But, I would imagine that the arts council and aosdana and anyone else who is funding him would be concerned about how he spends his money now. I think the most important thing about that documentary is highlighting the moral issue of sexual exploitation of poorer countries - both nationally and to Cathal O' Searcaigh. Someone needed to tell him it wasn't ok and that it has to stop and I think it was immensely brave of her to confront him as she did.

i totally agree. have nothing to add to that!

 

[maims bond]

how old were the young lads?

There was some text at the end of the doc which stated none of the boys shown were under the Nepali age of consent. I was watching this with my housemate who is a solicitor and he was adamant that you can be prosecuted for having sex with someone in a foreign country based on the age of consent of your home country. Not sure of this is true, he doesn't always speak the truth.

 

[SONYMEGADRIVE]

what age is that though? 12 year olds? 17 year olds?

 

[La La]

There was some text at the end of the doc which stated none of the boys shown were under the Nepali age of consent. I was watching this with my housemate who is a solicitor and he was adamant that you can be prosecuted for having sex with someone in a foreign country based on the age of consent of your home country. Not sure of this is true, he doesn't always speak the truth.

you can, (according to a yarn i read last night on I think RTE) and the cops are investigating him on that basis.
age of consent in Ireland is 17. In Nepal it's 16.

 

[cephalopod]

There was some text at the end of the doc which stated none of the boys shown were under the Nepali age of consent. I was watching this with my housemate who is a solicitor and he was adamant that you can be prosecuted for having sex with someone in a foreign country based on the age of consent of your home country. Not sure of this is true, he doesn't always speak the truth.

As far as I know it can happen in Ireland.

 

[avernus]

There was some text at the end of the doc which stated none of the boys shown were under the Nepali age of consent. I was watching this with my housemate who is a solicitor and he was adamant that you can be prosecuted for having sex with someone in a foreign country based on the age of consent of your home country. Not sure of this is true, he doesn't always speak the truth.

I'm no solicitor, but I'm certain that is bullshit.

 

[maims bond]

I'm no solicitor, but I'm certain that is bullshit.

I'm sceptical too but this guy is supposed to be shit hot. But sure how can you define age of consent anyway? Instead of age it might be better to go with something like "If there's grass on the pitch...".

 

[cephalopod]

Old enough to pull them up, old enough to pull them down.

 

[Corey]

I'm decided.

Clearly cathal's fucked up, but it in no way excuses his actions, regardless of his intentions.

I also have an issue with Neasa though, and it's pretty much the same issue i have with most documentary filmakers who produce this kind of stuff.

If she only discovered what was going on during the filming, and knew that this guy was doing wrong, than why on earth did she not fucking report it to the relevent authorities instead of waiting until the Documentary was screened? I see it as a form of exploitation in itself, and while it may or may not be on the same scale as O snodhaigh, her motives are questionable. And her tone during the narration made me sick.

This is a sorry affair, with no winners, where both parties involved are looking to benefit themselves, no noticeable commitment to doing the right thing.

 

[maims bond]

if they're bleedin', they're bleedin' old enough (doesn't really apply to boys)

 

[maims bond]

I'm decided.

Clearly cathal's fucked up, but it in no way excuses his actions, regardless of his intentions.

I do have an issue with Neasa though, and it's pretty much the same issue i have with most documentary filmakers who produce this kind of stuff.

If she only discovered what was going on during the filming, and knew that this guy was doing wrong, than why on earth did she not fucking report it to the relevent authorities instead of waiting until the Documentary was screened? I see it as a form of exploitation in itself, and while it may or may not be on the same scale as O snodhaigh, her motives are questionable. And her tone during the narration made me sick.

This is a sorry affair, with no winners, where both parties involved are looking to benefit themselves, no noticeable commitment to doing the right thing.

but it was reported to the authorities. Afaik the Gardaí were onto it after the story broke a few months ago and they had been in touch with the Nepalese authorities.

 

[avernus]

but how does the line "old enough to bleed, bleedin old enough" work with boys? it sort of conjures the chicken and the egg conundrum. like if Marty McFly didn't go back to 1955 and meet the young Dr. Emmett Brown, would they ever have met in the present? difficult questions with difficult answers I think.

 

[Space]

Neasa has certainly put herself on the map.

and yeah the authorities have been on to it a while. Hence the letters from Cathail to the Nepalese boys them to help him out.